Releasing device.



c. MI'I'LLER. RELEASING DEVICE.- v APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1911.

Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

wmvsssts %M@/% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CONRAD MI'TLLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

' RELEASING- DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CONRAD Miirmnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, borough of the Bronx, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Releasing Device, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention is an improvement in releasing devices, designed preferably for releasing the halters of one or more horses or other domestic animals, in order to enable them to be led out of the stable or other building in which they may be housed, in the shortest possible space of time, in case of the outbreak of a fire. It is constructed so as to engage the ring at the end of the halter rope, and it can be readily operated to liberate this ring whenever occasion so requires. The releasing device can also be employed in suspending life-boats from their davits on ship-board, and it is capable of a great many other uses which need not here be enumerated.

In the preferred form my invention comprises a sectional ring which moves in an annular bearing. This ring holds a ring to which is fastened the halter by means of which the animal is hitched to its stall; and

has a number of gear teeth formed on its outer edge which are engaged by the gear teeth of an operating pinion to move the ring to open or closed position. Any number of rings may be employed, one for each of the stalls in which the animals are housed, and the operating pinions can be connected by a common shaft, so that all the releasing devices can be actuated at once.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which the same characters of reference indicate the same parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a plurality of stalls with my releasing device applied thereto; Figure 2 is a side elevation of part of my releasing device, showing the interior construction; Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the operating mechanism with the bearing cap removed and some of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 23, 1911.

Patented Apr. 30, 1912.

Serial No. 650,927.

the parts broken away; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 4.

On the drawings, 1 indicates a plate which is secured to the side or front of the stall by means of bolts 2 and fastening nuts 3. This plate carries a projection 4, cast or otherwise secured thereon, and this projection is counterbored at one side, forming a circular recess 5. This circular recess has an opening through the bottom; and the edge of this opening is curved to approximate the curvature of a sphere, as shown at 6. 7 is a similar projection removably secured to the projection 4 by means of fastening bolts 8, and this projection 7 also has a circular recess 5, and opening with the sphericallycurved edge 6 formed therein, the same as the projection 4.

When the plate 7 is secured to the projection 4 by means of the bolts 8, the center of the recess and the opening having the spherically-curved edge will be in line with the opening having the spherically-curved edge formed in the extension 4. The extension 4 and the plate 7 are thus formed to receive between them a toothed pinion 9 having a hub 10 which has an outer spherically-curved surface which matches and rotates in contact with the spherically-curved edges 6 of the openings through the extension 4 and plate 7. This construction com pletely incloses the operating pinion 9, and provides a kind of ball-and-s0cket mounting therefor, the utility of which will appear later. The pinion 9 is operated further by means of a shaft 11, this shaft being square or otherwise polygonal in shape, as shown, so that it can be passed through a corresponding opening in the hub 10, and requires no key or feather to secure the same non-rotatably thereto.

The outer end of the projection 4 receives and mounts a sectional ring 12, forming the major part of a circle and moving in a correspondinglycurved groove 13, this groove course has a groove therein corresponding to the groove 13, the ring 12 being preferably circular in cross-section, so that when the plate 7 is fitted to the projection 1, the ring as well as the pinion 9 will be completely housed between the two. In the end of the projection 4t and the plate 7 is formed an opening 15. This opening comn'iunicates through the end of the projection and plate by means of a recess 16; and when the ring is in closed position it will bridge this recess in the manner shown in Fig. 2.

17 is the ring to which the end of the halter rope or chain shown at 18 is hooked; and 19 represents the front of the stalls to which the releasing device is secured, 20 being the feeding troughs therein.

The operating rod 11 is mounted at its outer end to rotate in a bearing carried by a plate 21 secured to any suitable support. This bearing 21 has a cap 22, which fits over and secures in place a journal 23 mounted on the shaft 11, this journal having collars 2% on either side of the bearing cap 22, one of these collars, preferably the inner one, having a recess cut in its outer edge terminating in shoulders 25. These shoulders 25 are spaced. suflicient-ly apart and they engage a projection 26 on the plate 21, to limit the amount of angular rotation which is required of the shaft 11. An operating arm 27 is secured to the outer end of the journal 23 to provide means for conveniently turning the shaft when occasion requires its use.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the threaded aperture by which the operating arm is secured to the outer end of the journal 23, is located so that when its arm is screwed home, the inner end will engage one of the flat faces of the bar 11. This will therefore serve to hold the bar 11 against longitudinal displacement with respect to the journal 23, and the hubs 10 of the pinions 9 as well.

The operation of the invention will b clear from the foregoing description. To secure horses or other animals in their stalls the halters are fastened either by hooking or by knotting the ends thereof to the ring 17, one of which is mounted in each of the releasing devices. In case of the outbreak of a fire, or any other occurrence which would necessitate getting the animals out in the shortest possible space of time, the person in charge simply turns the bar 11 by means of the arm 27, thus moving all the rings 12 to open position, so as to release the halter rings 17 together, without necessitating the unfastening of the halters from these rings 17 at all.

By means of the ball-and-socket mounting for the pinion 9 with the hub 10 in the projection t and plate 7 it is not necessary to aline the releasing devices for a number of stalls with any great degree of accuracy. The pinion 10 will adjust. itself to the direction of the shaft when the same is passed through the hub 10 without getting out of engagement with the teeth on the ring 12.

By means of my invention the necessity for releasing the horses or other animals by untying of knots is entirely obviated. lVhile I have shown and described my invention as being useful in stables and the like, it is obvious that I may employ it in many other places.

It will be understood that the opening from the aperture 15 through the end of the projection at and plate 7 is the same extent as the distance between the ends of the ring 12, so that this ring can easily bridge this recess when it is moved to closing position. This ring constitutes a sliding fastening means which preferably engages and secures the rope or other device which is to be held thereby.

I wish to have it understood that I may make such changes in the shape, size and arrangement of the parts as fairly fall Within the scope and spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a releasing device, the combination of a support, a sectional arc-shaped ring carried by said support having separated ends, said ring having a plurality of teeth formed on its edge, and a pinion meshing with said teeth, said pinion serving to move said ring to open and closed position.

2. In a releasing device, the combination of a support, a sectional arc-shaped ring having its ends spaced apart mounted to slide in said support, said ring having gear teeth formed. on its outer edge, a pinion to mesh with said gear teeth, and means for operating said pinion to move said ring to open and closed. position.

3. In a releasing device, the combination of a support, a sectional arc-shaped ring having separated ends, secured to said support, said support having an opening therethrough extending perpendicular to the plane of said ring and having a recess formed in its edge communicating with said opening, said ring having a plurality of gear teeth formed thereon, and a pinion mounted in said support and meshing with said teeth on the sectional ring to move said ring to open or close said recess.

4. In a releasing device, the combination of a support, a pinion having a hub carried by said support, the hub and the surfaces of the support contacting therewith being correspondingly curved to form a ball-andsocket mounting for said pinion, a sectional arc-shaped ring also carried by said sup- In testimony whereof I have signed my port, said support having a recess extendname to this specification in the presence of 0 ing inward through its edge in position to two subscribing witnesses.

be opened and closed b said rin said ring having a plurality of gear teeth m its edge CONRAD MULLER said gear teeth being engaged by said pin- Witnesses:

ion, and means for revolving said pinion to REYD DYER,

move said ring to open and closed position. FREDERICK Mt'iLLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

